Relax and rejuvenate with a visit to a botanical garden

Friday

Aug 8, 2014 at 5:29 PMAug 8, 2014 at 5:30 PM

By Chris BergeronDaily News Staff

Ever since Adam and Eve left Eden, humans have planted and visited gardens to enjoy the horticultural variety, relax amid natural serenity and marvel at the beautiful shrubs and flowers. With Labor Day looming, there's plenty of time to visit these Edenic gardens across MetroWest and neighboring communities. Lace up your walking shoes. Load your camera. Pack a lunch and don't forget an apple.GARDEN IN THE WOODS, FRAMINGHAMFilling 45 verdant acres, Garden in the Woods offers a rewarding mix of several distinctive gardens of rare and common native species beside trails that lead visitors to a lily pond, a vernal pool and a mature pine and oak forest with spots to rest and contemplate the pristine splendor. Visitors can stop by the Curtis Woodland Garden, the Idea Garden that includes a roof garden and wild edibles including an orchard, New England Rare Plants Garden, the new coastal sand plain garden and lots more. While walking trails and viewing gardens, visitors will catch glimpses of wildlife from butterflies to dragonflies and turtles and frogs at the Lily Pond, birds and woodland mammals like chipmunks and maybe spot a heron. The headquarters of the New England Wildflower Society, GITW is a living museum where visitors will see plant labels and interpretive signs that explain the varied habitats and plants in them. Bring the kids to the Family Activity Area and watch them explore the fiddlehead labyrinth. Friday, Aug. 15 is Free Fun Friday when the garden is open to visitors at no charge. Info: 508-877-7630; wwww.newenglandwild.orgTOWER HILL BOTANIC GARDEN, BOYLSTONThe headquarters of the third oldest active horticultural society in the U.S., Tower Hill sprawls over 135 acres of meadows and gardens, orchards and woodlands, providing visitors with a wide selection of flowers and plants to see and activities to enjoy. First impressions set the tone for a magical site with an apple orchard flanking the entry drive and featuring 238 trees and 119 pre-20th century varieties. The first garden developed after the Worcester County Horticultural Society bought Tower Hill Farm in 1986, the Cottage Garden, just before the Visitors Center, resembles an idyllic dream of the natural harmony Romantic poets wrote about. It includes a variety of trees, shrubs, bulbs, herbaceous perennials, annuals and ornamental grasses. Guests can pass through the Entry Garden, the cathedral-like Limonaia, or Lemon House, with its camellias and citrus plants, and visit the adjacent Winter Garden, the 4,000-square foot Orangerie and on to the Systematic Garden which opens to an expanse of meadows and woods. After passing through a row of oak trees known as Pliny's Alle, visitors can make a brisk trek up a hill for a spectacular view, mosey through the woods where they'll see faux-Classical sculptures. After savoring the sights, walk down to the Wildlife Refuge Pond and relax in a Chinese pagoda with a 360-degree view of heaven on Earth. Info: 508-869-6111; www.towerhillbg.orgELM BANK, WELLESLEYSurrounded on three sides by the Charles River, the Massachusetts Horticultural Society Gardens at Elm Bank Reservation offers a dozen distinct gardens, stately historic buildings and gorgeous grounds that are perfect for peaceful walks, idyllic weddings and activities for kids and adults. Located on 36 acres that straddles parts of Wellesley and Dover, Elm Bank includes a horticultural center that's home to the MHS, the Bressingham Garden designed by Adrian Bloom, the grand Italianate Garden and the whimsical Weezie's Garden for Children. While the majestic, 44-room Georgian Manor House is not yet open, visitors might be excused for thinking they've time-traveled into an American version of Downton Abbey. MHS President Katherine Macdonald described the gardens as "a very special place that will inspire guests for what they might want to do in their home gardens.'' She said visitors to the Trial Garden will "see plants that aren't in the stores yet.'' Joining the MHS offers volunteering opportunities at Elm Bank, access to a comprehensive horticultural library and a chance to enroll in the Master Gardner Program. Info: 617-933-4900; www.masshort.orgARNOLD ARBORETUM, BOSTONDesigned by pioneering landscape designer Frederick Law Olmstead, who designed the Emerald Necklace, the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University offers fabulous flower and plant collections plus scenic walks across its rolling grounds leading to 240-foot Peter's Hill, the second highest spot in Boston. Occupying 281 acres in the Roslindale and Jamaica Plains sections of Boston, it cultivates 15,000 plants that represent 4,000 kinds of trees, shrubs and vines that are labeled for easy comparison. Founded in 1872, the arboretum is best known for its nationally famous lilac collection of more than 200 varieties. The year-round site includes numerous featured destinations and special horticultural displays including the Azalea Border, a Rosaceous collection, a conifer collection, a crabapple collection, a bonsai collection and lots more. Info: 617-524-1718; www.arboretum.harvard.eduWELLESLEY COLLEGE BOTANIC GARDENS, WELLESLEYThe Wellesley College Botanic Gardens are one of the best-kept horticultural secrets in the area, providing an amazing variety of flora in a compact, picturesque setting. The Alexandra Botanic Garden offers specimen trees and shrubs from around the world with a tiny brook winding through the site from a waterfall to paramecium pond. Visitors to the H.H. Hunnewell Arboretum will see varied habitats including a meadow, a maple swamp and fragments of different kinds of forests with mostly native species. At the Margaret C. Ferguson Greenhouses, they can explore the flora of different climates and examine plants life from the rainforests of Malaysia and Brazil to the deserts of Africa and Mexico. The botanic gardenís Visitors Center is adjacent to the collegeís Science Center. The outdoor areas of the WCBG are open daily, dawn to dusk. The Ferguson Greenhouses are open every day of the week from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. except during the summer. The greenhouses are closed on Saturday and Sunday from mid-June to late August. Info: 781-283-3094; www.wellesley.eduChris Bergeron is a Daily News staff writer. Contact him at cbergeron@wickedlocal.com or 508-626-4448. Follow us on Twitter @WickedLocalArts and on Facebook.

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